1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a flexible tube device, which is repeatedly reshapable by bending, preferably by hand, and which after the reshaping maintains its shape, preferably also under the influence of gravity when the device is kept in a maximum elongated shape in the horizontal direction and is fixed at one end, but otherwise is free from support.
The tube device according to the invention is particularly suited for conducting a fluid, gaseous or in liquid state, to and from an adjustable point and in an adjustable direction. Examples of such use is exhaustion of contaminated gases, liquids or solids, in particularly in form of droplets or particles carried by a gas, such as splashes from a machine tool or weld smoke, or conduction of gas or liquid to a point, such as cutting fluid or cooling air, etc.
For such applications it may according to the invention be appropriate to provide the device fixed at one end and with the other end freely adjustable, preferably by hand, within a wide adjustment range within the range of the device, preferably with reshapable forces applied at the free moveable end or for example at a distance from this end, which does not exceed 20% of the length of the device.
2. Prior Art
Flexible tube devices of the type mentioned above are previously known and comprise for example flexible metal hoses of profiled, spirally wound metal strips or a plurality of means of ball joint type. However, such known devices suffer from a number of disadvantages, such as high costs, hard wear, limited flexibility and a tendency to clog, especially if the duct contains flow disturbing parts.